But Dehnam won’t be taking on the role full time until 6 May 2019, once she serves out her six-month notice period with Telstra. In the meantime, Musk “will be a resource to Robyn and provide any support that she requests in her role as chair”.

So she can continue to focus on her duties at Telstra, Denham will also temporarily step down as chair of Tesla’s audit committee until she leaves the telco.

“I believe in this company, I believe in its mission and I look forward to helping Elon and the Tesla team achieve sustainable profitability and drive long-term shareholder value,” Deham said.

Denham has held leadership roles across a range of technology companies, including Telstra, Juniper Networks, and Sun Microsystems. Her experience also includes numerous finance management roles in the automotive industry while at Toyota.

“Robyn has extensive experience in both the tech and auto industries, and she has made significant contributions as a Tesla board member over the past four years in helping us become a profitable company,” Musk said.

“I look forward to working even more closely with Robyn as we continue accelerating the advent of sustainable energy.”

Denham joined Telstra in January 2017 as chief operations officer and has been in the role of CFO since 1 October 2018.

Telstra CEO Andy Penn said Denholm would continue in her role with Telstra for her six-month notice period with her final date of employment being 6 May 2019.

“We are sorry to see Robyn leave Telstra. We know that it has become increasingly difficult to balance her responsibilities as Telstra CFO with the increased activity of the Tesla Board,” Penn said.

Penn said Telstra is undertaking a search for a new chief financial officer and will provide an update on a replacement appointment as soon as possible.

The Author

Tess Bennett

Tess Bennett is the editor of Which-50 and is responsible for leading the publication’s daily coverage of Australia's digital businesses for C-Suite executives, strategists, founders and directors. As the former editor of Internet Retailing Australia and journalist for Inside Retail, Tess has five years experience covering retail and ecommerce. At Which-50 Tess reports on a broad range of topics including technology, the industrial internet, analytics and digital marketing.

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